AirPods Supplier Expanding Production After High Demand For Apple's Wireless Earphones

AirPods manufacturer Inventec is planning to boost its production capacity for Apple’s wireless earphones, China’s Economic Daily reported, according to DigiTimes.

As consumers hurried to buy Apple’s new product this holiday season, Inventec is now rumored to have started expanding its capacity in some of its plants in Shanghai “in order to satisfy increasing demand for the earphones and the plants are currently working overtime to deliver orders,” the report says.

When the AirPods were released on Dec. 13, Apple noted the earphones would begin shipping in “limited quantities” at launch, which was rumored before. However, the shipping date was extended to more than four weeks, and six weeks a day after the AirPods were released. But customers said they were notified that they were getting their wireless earphones sooner than they expected.

“Runaway Success”

Despite the expected long shipping wait, the AirPods were a big hit this holiday season. Apple CEO Tim Cook called the AirPods a “runaway success” in an interview with CNBC this week at the New York Stock Exchange. "We're making them just as fast as we can," he said. Cook added that Apple has had a “great” holiday season overall.

The AirPods, which come with a charging case, are priced at $159. The product was announced during Apple’s September event alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The AirPods were supposed to launch in October but the release date was delayed.